Mini-Guide: The Property Search

You’ve decided to move house. A big decision that is by no means taken lightly. This guide is your ‘North Star’, follow it and you’ll never get lost!

Your maximum budget

Whether you are financing the whole move yourself or are re-mortgaging your mum’s house, everyone has a maximum budget. Be realistic with your budget, nothing piles stress on more than over-borrowing and financial troubles arising from over estimating the top end of your budget. Having a clear picture of what you are looking to spend firms up, and grounds your property search so that you can see where you fit in the current market.

Your ideal location

You must have a clear idea of where you would like to live. This includes some serious desk and physical research. Go to restaurants, find local convenience stores, and talk to people who live in the area already. The best advice for anyone looking to move is to really question what your life would be like in your new surroundings. Hopefully, ‘happy’ is the answer that you get when you find a place that really clicks with your aspirations. Some of you out there might already know the area that you want to move to, and with most movers only moving an average of 20 miles from their existing house, it is likely that there are a lot of you.

A few back-up locations

Whilst most of us love to dream about the unaffordable homes that we one day may own. When you are considering moving this is not very helpful. So you have your ideal location, maybe it is a town with a good school, or a village with a good pub (definitely a priority for some). Now it is time to put your dream aside. Contingency planning is always prudent and home moving is no different. Your search should always include some areas that are not perfect but may have lower house prices, or maybe where it is only a two mile drive to that amazing pub with home-brew ale at £2.00 a pint. Make a list of things that you will compromise on and things that you will not. This way you make sure that you are not giving up too much of your dream but enough to satisfy the criteria of the local housing market.

Your property requirements

“I want a swimming pool!” Whilst it may be a luxury, don’t discount having a swim in your back garden on a hot summer’s day. But try not to forget that this is England, and those hot summer’s days are not around too often. First concentrate on getting enough bedrooms for everyone, a kitchen and a bathroom before the added extras bump up the price to an unaffordable level. If you need a car make sure that you either have a driveway or contact your local council for the annual permit prices of on-street parking. Finally you are ready to start searching! Make sure that you keep all of the above safely locked inside your head for when you begin. It can seem daunting, the prospect of searching for that needle in a haystack property, but don’t be put off. With the rise of the internet, property searching has become a relaxing, even enjoyable, past-time for many. With an estimated 98% of property searches starting online, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your armchair and warm fireplace to scope out your next home move. The House Shop.com takes all of the effort out of the search process for you by providing: filtered searches so that you can find that ‘2 bedroom house for under £200,000’ you so desperately want. Property alerts, so you never miss a new property that matches your criteria. A bespoke accessible property section, to find all the disabled access properties that you would ever need and finally a ‘Chat’ service to guide you along the way should you ever need help. If you don’t think that the internet is the right place for you then don’t worry there are plenty of ways to find your next house. Find a trusted local estate agent to help you with your search. Their local knowledge and expertise can really narrow down your search and ensure that you don’t waste your time viewing a mid-terrace house when you need space for your band practice. Another way of extending your local search is via word of mouth. Whether through social media such as Facebook or through your friends someone you know may know the person who is selling your dream home. If six degrees of separation really does ring true then you will not be far away from pinning down your next house. Do be careful of the Chinese whisper effect, we don’t want you ending up with house in the trees when all you asked for was a house with trees! Whilst there are many serious sides to searching for your house, make sure that you have fun along the way, you are the ones in the driving seat, enjoy the ride. The House Shop.com makes sure that finding a new home, really is ‘your choice’.